As a rule, taking college admissions advice from 9th graders is not the best idea (no offense to 9th graders, but …). Focus on the things that challenge you and bring you joy. That’s how you can become the best version of your authentic self. Don’t worry about college for a couple of years.
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As a high school teacher, my suggestions for my students are:
have a set of personal goals (and practical plans to reach them), such as cooking and cleaning for self, advocating for self, getting a job, managing own budget, managing own schedule, having several true friends, driving, etc.;
get involved in classes and clubs with mixed grade levels - sports, band, orchestra, speech, etc.;
identify a few students in each grade ahead who are similar to you and observe how they navigate high school;
get involved in regular activities interacting with students from other high schools;
read books, listen to ted talks, subscribe to podcasts of various perspectives, think why they say what they say.
Do NOT make “attending ABC college” as a goal. It’s okay to have a dream school or two but it’s also okay to not attend. Grow to be a responsible person, develop interests, practice overcoming setbacks/obstacles, keep an open mind, college options will come naturally.
Not participating in sports is perfectly fine. Every year I know kids who are accepted to Ivies without any sports. On the other hand, it helps you grow if you have one or two interests, stick to it, develop yourself, and accomplish something. It could be orchestra, debate, math, chemistry, chess, beekeeping, stargazing, whatever you enjoy doing and don’t mind putting in real effort.
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You don’t need a sport.
Music can give a boost, too. When the time comes you can submit a music arts supplement to schools.
Worrying about college can kind of poison the high school experience. You are on a good path already. Don’t overthink things. Just continue as you are and let your interests grow naturally. No need for tennis!
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Everyone else has done a good job telling you this is wrong, so I will just take a moment and suggest this is a good example of something you should watch out for in general, whenever you have discussions about college admissions with people like your friend.
So to quickly frame this analysis, it helps to understand that a typical selective “residential” college in the United States, meaning a college where at least the vast majority of students will not be living at home but in housing on or near campus, does a lot more than just teach classes. Among other things, there are lots of activities students can outside of class. It shouldn’t be understated that is in part just for fun, but there is also a very long-standing belief that students participating in other activities is an important part of the value of a residential college.
And the typical range of activities is very wide. Some are artistic, fine or performing. Some are competitive, like debate. Some involve writing and publishing–student newspapers, journals, and so on. Some are what are loosely known as “identity” organizations. Some involve student government. Some are social, including possibly Greek societies. Some are charitable (and there can often be a charitable component to other activities). Some involve outdoor or wilderness activities. Some involve a shared interest in something like movies, or books, or games, or food and drink. And on and on. In fact, almost every “good” college these days will tell you some version of, “We have XX existing student clubs, but if you don’t see something you and a couple friends would like to do, we will provide you with support to start a new one.”
Of course not every student can participate in every such college activity. Indeed, a given student probably can only participate seriously in a small handful. And what you do may surprise you–it is very common for a friend or roommate to drag you into something they are doing, and for you to find it unexpectedly something you become passionate about.
OK, so then one, but only one, major category of activity is sports. Typically the sports break down into three levels or so. There are varsity sports, which are interscholastic and done under the governance of one of the NCAA Divisions. As an aside, many selective colleges recruit for varsity sports, and this can mean a coach has the ability to nominate recruits for special consideration in admissions. There are also club sports, which are also interscholastic, but not NCAA sports, and typically do not recruit, meaning their coaches (or often, the student leaders) have no ability to nominate people in admissions. And finally there are intramurals, where teams (often pretty informal) within the school compete against each other. Obviously there is no recruiting for intramurals either.
So how does relate to admissions? Well, given this backdrop, “holistic review” colleges are often, among other things, trying to get a picture of how you might participate in student activities. But they are not trying to put together a class of 1500 people (or whatever) who will all participate in the same activities. Indeed, when you actually think about it, that would be ridiculous. In order to sustain all these many different student activities, they need each class to have a wide variety of people, not a bunch of clones who all like to do the same thing.
OK, so what happened with your friend? Well, I don’t know, but I suspect it was something like this.
They heard something like that sports can help you get admitted to selective colleges. And that is true in two senses. One, you might be a recruited varsity athlete. Or two, you might have been really into high school sports, and that might help create a vision of how you could be actively involved in club or intramural sports.
And then they turned that observation into the thought that sports is therefore required for admissions. Which as others have explained, is very much not true. Because these colleges don’t want classes full of people who do sports. They want SOME people who do sports. But also some people who do arts, and some who do writing, and some who debate, and some who do identity organizations, and student government, and social organizations, and charitable organizations, or on and on.
So if there is something you do, which is also something they do, then that is potentially helpful in holistic review. And sports is ONE example, but only one.
But some people will still say, then shouldn’t you check ALL the boxes? Won’t that be even more impressive than someone who just does two or three of these things?
NO. It is impossible to do all of these activities. It is in fact impossible to do more than a small handful in much depth. And in fact, if you try to check too many boxes, you are risking not doing even that many in depth. And that doesn’t help you in admissions, because that isn’t painting a clear picture of how you might actually participate meaningfully in college activities.
OK, so experienced school counselors and admissions officers will try their best to explain this to kids. They tell them over and over that they want variety, they don’t want you to check a bunch of boxes, they want you to feel free to explore different things, and then maybe do a small handful in depth. But what you decide to do in depth can be completely different from what another person does in depth, and both of you can be admitted because they actually want that variety.
But despite these efforts to convey this information by people who actually know, you are surely going to keep encountering people like your friend, people who have taken something that is ONE sort of activity that might help in admissions, and turned it into a requirement that EVERY successful applicant must do that thing.
And aside from getting good grades in rigorous classes (that one is fairly pretty universal for selective colleges), almost every other thing you will ever hear described that way is wrong.
And when you think about it, it must be wrong. Because these colleges do not want to admit classes where everyone has done the exact same list of things.
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Thank you. I get what you mean by depth and I understand sports better now.
Thank you! I do plan on pursuing my interest in chemistry quite far so I’ll keep your words in mind!
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You have gotten great and accurate info here. If you wanted to respond to your friend, you could say " You’re right. If I wanted to be sure of jumping to the front of the acceptance line at the most selective schools, I would be gunning to be one of the best in the country at some sport so I could be a top recruit. Not happening! So I’m going to make the most of these 4 years by doing the best I can at what I like and seeing what schools will be a good fit for that person when the time comes."
Trust me - there are tons of amazing schools out there. It’s best to find the one that fits you rather than trying to make yourself fit the school - especially since you can never be quite sure what that is!
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And many OTHER topics as well!
@ChemistryP: Safely assume that your former middle-school peers are just trying to figure out life themselves. The silent majority will be okay with accepting that fact - others will try to cover up their insecurities by loudly boasting their “knowledge”, even though they know just as little as everyone else. Chances are, the more “definite” the opinions they are parroting, the fewer facts are supporting them.
Non taken (speaking as a former 9th grader.)
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Good life lesson – you will meet these people at every phase of life, so best to learn to ignore them now!
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You’ve already received some excellent advice so I won’t add much here.
I will say that I’d urge you (and your friend) to read this blog post from the MIT Admissions Office, as it talks about what kind of applicants MIT is interested in, and it gives further evidence that your friend has a lot to learn: Applying Sideways | MIT Admissions
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None of my 3 kids did a sport in HS. All three got into highly selective, well known schools, the latest as recently as a few months ago.
Obviously if you’re so good that you get recruited that can help. Most who do sports don’t reach that level, and even if you do an even smaller subset get recruited to one of the schools you may be academically coveting. Short of that, sports is a good EC just like but not more important than others.
That said, if you’re trying to compete for top schools, it helps to both show a deep passion for a particular thing – can be research or an academic subject that you do above and beyond your school work, etc. – but also at least something else to show you aren’t just one thing (whether that is a sport, instrament, choir, school plays, writing, volunteering, etc.). But none of this matters as much as grades. Grades matter more than test scores, research, ECs, LoCs, etc. combined. Keep your eye on that prize and then do what your passionate about. Don’t worry about the rest.
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Your ‘friend’ is a total jerk and is probably jealous of all your accolades and grade skips and smarts. So the next time he says this respond with, “well… if I were you I’d be concerned more concerned about how to become a recruited athlete because that is the hardest way to get into college. Better get a new coach as you’ll never make it if you keep going like this.” That will shut him up. 
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Speaking as a total klutz myself… agreeing with everyone you do not need a sport.
But staying healthy by making good choices is a lifelong skill to develop. So whether it’s walking around the block after dinner before starting your homework, or playing tag with a few little kids in the neighborhood (they’d be thrilled to have a cool 9th grader pay attention to them!), or having a fun game of tennis over the weekend with a friend, finding a way to incorporate regular physical activity into your life every day is a great habit to start.
And buckle your seatbelt!
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Thank you all for the advice! I appreciate it a lot 
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The only person I would take advice from is people who are or were involved in the admissions practice. I wouldn’t even take a guidance counselors advice too seriously because they can guess why someone was or wasn’t accepted to a college, but it’s a guess. Many colleges like sports because it shows commitment and teamwork, I’ve read it directly from schools, but there are other ways to show this and the best thing you can do according to admissions counselors I follow online is to find what you are passionate about and get involved in that.
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You are just a freshman, so it’s really early, but, looking at you activities and plans, I would say that you’re doing great, and your plans look great.
Sports is really just another extracurricular activity, not some requirement for admissions. The best ECs for you are the ones which you like doing the most, and, for you, it looks like you enjoy music a lot more. So not only are you not “doomed”, your plans look great, and you’re setting yourself up for enjoying yourself more and doing better in school and in life than had you kept your sport instead of expanding your musical activity.
One thing I do recommend, though, is that you find some physical activity that you enjoy. It doesn’t have to be a sport, it can can be riding a bicycle, dancing, or hiking. Not for some future benefit in college admissions, but because it is healthy for you now.
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